12 January 2014

Miscellaneous Pipedreams

It is one thing to predict the future. This post does not contain predictions. It contains a wish list of things that it would be nice to have in the future that are possible but improbable.

1. A broad spectrum anti-viral drug (akin to modern antibiotics). The common cold and kindred viral infections no longer seem common and trivial until you've suffered five weeks and still counting with them.

2. An era where new computers don't come packaged with junk programs and the programs that you do get just work seamlessly without active user intervention.

3. A painless, effortless weight loss system.

4. An over the counter "gumption" pill that would give you the verve to go get things done with gusto in the face of apathy, urges to procrastinate, and inertia. Not just general nervous system stimulants like caffeine.

5. A dramatic expansion of the intellectual property public domain.

6. A political culture in which anti-science zealots and other politicians disconnected from reality would be treated like crackpots rather than taken seriously.

7. The invention of a better battery or battery-substitute that would make fossil fuel vehicles obsolete.

8. Secularization in the United States to the extent seen in the most secular countries of Europe.

9. More dog-free communities.

10. Customizable newpapers with only the sections you care about and no ads.

11. The demise of the necktie as a male fashion accessory.

12. Something that would create strong incentives to refrain from a variety of annoying or misleading advertising techniques like spam, correspondence designed to look official or governmental when it is not, catches hidden in fine print, multi-layer marketing schemes, etc.